A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

Meeting Date: Friday, September 8, 2006
Location: Felipe's Taqueria in Harvard Square
Present: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Manda, Rachel, Wendy

First off, I wanted to reiterate my attempt for a themed restaurant for the book, but the Orinoco and Brazilian places (in honor of Tony's quest for the Lost City) just didn't work out. So we found a nice big table and had Mexican instead.

I think the overall opinion of the book was that it was good but that the big switch in tone after little John died was too jarring for some. People thought that it just didn't even seem like the same book. Rachel was "thrown" by the sudden change, and Wendy liked it until Tony's journey to South America. She also felt that it wasn't fair that Tony's life was finally turning around, and then he gets lost, and sentenced to a life of reading Dickens for eternity! Beth added that John's death seemed like a contrived plot device.

All agreed that John Beaver was a loser and not really developed. Wendy questioned the appeal of Beaver to Brenda, and we thought it was just because she was bored. Manda hated how mean Brenda was to Tony and was waiting for him to tell her off -- we were all happy when that happened!

Everyone seemed to agree that the priest who repeated his sermons was funny.

I loved it -- I thought it was very funny and I even liked the end because it reminded me of the gothic fiction that I like so much since it had all the elements of tragedy for poor Tony.

Manda liked it and thought it was very entertaining.

Beth couldn't say that she liked it, but she did read it very quickly and didn't know why.

We wondered what the title meant. Rachel thought the style of writing was very similar to Oscar Wilde. Beth read that Waugh wrote another ending for the American audience but didn't know what had been changed. I am eager to see the movie version now.

We talked a lot about Erin's new adventure and job opportunity in Virginia. We are going to miss her, but it sounds like she and her family will have an amazing time there. We presented her with a book on Virginia Curiosities and some "Virginia is for Lovers" paraphernalia. Book club wishes you all the best, Erin!

The next pick is Rachel's and she has chosen March by Geraldine Brooks as the next book.

Manda wants everyone to add their latest picks for books, movies, etc. to the blog. I'll add my latest favorite read which has already made its way to Anne and Rachel and that is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Happy reading ladies,
Donna

P.S. I found this online article about the book that explains the title, mentions the American version, and more:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/English151W-03/handful.htm